Reviews with content warning for Abandonment - Barbarian's Mate

After rereading: 4.25⭐️ I enjoyed this so so much. While I wanted to just yell at them to kiss already, they both had very real things to overcome before being together. Their pasts are both very traumatic. It got more lighthearted as it went on. The language and cultural barrier was so funny at times. Haeden’s utter devotion to Josie was SO sweet. So many cute moments.

Original review: 3⭐️ This is like ultimate enemies to lovers. This couple has intrigued me throughout all of the other books so I was excited to read this one. Poor Haedon! His story was so sad. I loved reading this!

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katiekeske's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging emotional funny hopeful sad tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

I was nervous starting this book about these two because there had been such buildup in the previous books. I do not like it when characters are mean to each other and have miscommunication, which these two had a lot of. I am giving it a four because there is character growth and more adventure with some more world-building in this one (instead of just being stuck in a cave resonating the whole book).

Once I got to read Haeden's POV and get his background and feelings, I was totally smitten with him. His story is so sad, and his actions make sense once you understand him. I wished he had shared more of his feelings out loud. Of course, that's part of the angsty drama.

I personally had a hard time connecting to Josie. I like that she's supposed to be a sunshine character, but her strong and constant desire to have a baby, especially after all the trauma she's gone through, just doesn't make sense to me. It was a little jarring to go from Tiffany's book, which I thought handled her trauma really well, to Josie's book where she doesn't seem affected by her past at all. She briefly mentions things, but then just gets over it...? (Good for her, I guess. Are there people out there like that? I don't know any myself...) I know every woman is different, so there are women out there who will feel a connection with her. I'm just not one of them. I wished she treated Haeden better sooner.

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